Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.
Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.
Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels’ stronghold in San Francisco where she’ll risk everything to rescue her sister and he’ll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again. (Goodreads summary)
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Let me start by telling you how blown away I was by this book that cost me just $1.66 on Kindle. Ridiculous.
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We meet the main characters in California approximately 2 months after the world has pretty much fallen apart. Brimstone, fire, angel warriors, the whole shebang.
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I will warn, this book isn’t for the faint of heart. There’s a fair amount of descriptive gore, and things that creeped me out enough to give me nightmares. (That’s kind of my fault. Never start an amazing book 30 minutes before you’re planning to go to sleep. I didn’t stop until it was finished, and then I stared wide-eyed at the ceiling in the dark. Creepy factor: 7/10)
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Protagonist, Penryn
1. Super cool name.
2. Totally and completely kick-butt female lead. I want to shake her hand, but honestly, she kind of scares me. She’s that amazing.
3. Loyalty to the max. Her sister is taken from her and she risks her life about 10 different times trying to get to her.
4. Very adult for being 17. I suppose when the world crashes around you, it’s time to step up. She is the dominant leader of her family unit. I have loads of respect for her.
And the male lead, Raffe
1. Quite mysterious. We don’t get much of his story until more than halfway through. But it works.
2. Ethereal, otherworldly good looks. Literally.
3. Best sense of humor I’ve read in a while. Dry and sarcastic, and I loved every bit of it.
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Our other characters were Penryn’s mother, who is a totally fascinating, and Paige, Penryn’s sister. There is adequate character development for each, and they are both important to the story as a whole, which I appreciate. I like secondary characters who mean something.
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While I don’t consider myself an astute Biblical scholar, there were a few moments where I cringed at some of the theological interjections. Since it’s fiction and since I didn’t get the impression that Ms. Ee was pushing an agenda, I didn’t let it affect my opinion or overall review.
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The only negative aspect to this book is that we don’t get much backstory for the time that has elapsed since the attack on Earth began before we meet Penryn. I can’t say that it left me wanting for a lot more, because the story is complete and could stand on its own, but it might have helped us understand some aspects of the storyline better.
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Scratch that, there’s one more negative. I wish this was more of a romance. But I’ll try to just be happy with what it is.
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There isn’t much info available on the sequel, as it remains untitled with a vague release date of 2013.
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Overall, a solid 4.5 stars. Recommended for angel/ paranormal/ sci-fi/ creepy stuff fans. Or, pretty much anyone. It’s pretty cool.
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Author: Susan Ee
Title: Angelfall
Series: Penryn & the End of Days (Book #1)
Published: May 21st 2011 by Feral Dream
Format: Kindle Edition, 255 pages
Website: www.susanee.com
Source: Purchased
Happy Reading!
I LOVED this book so much!! I read it months ago and I’m still thinking about it! Cannot WAIT for book 2!
I know exactly what you mean! It’s the kind of book that stays with you long after you read the last page.
I love this book! I had read the ebook awhile ago but when I saw the paperback was only $1.75 I just had to buy it! I wanted more of a romance too but I have high hopes for the rest of the series.
~Sara @ Forever 17 Books
I am in serious love with it as well! Can’t wait for the second – my fingers are totally crossed for more romance.
Great review, Dani! I got the paperback for a steal at $1.75 last week, too – bumping it up on my TBR now!
I love this book! that’s why I should really start reading this!
This sounds like an awesome read, but I’m kinda tired of dystopian and apocalyptic. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan to begin with – I like dystopians that are like Wither by Lauren DeStefano.
But the characters seem very real:)
Thanks for the great review! I’m ashamed to say that this book has been buried in my e-TBR pile for a while now. Gotta go dig it out
I’m with you on the leery religious throwbacks in this book. It makes it a bit difficult to enjoy the book when the author takes religion and bend it to fit a storyline. I’m more of a ‘you don’t mess with religion’ type of reader and this was one of those books that had me on the edge of my seat!
I must get this book! I like creepy novels and I like the book cover. Plus the kick ass female protagonist. And the thing you don’t like but I like — not too much romance. Perfect. 😀
This book has always sounded great to me. Although I was surprised to see that you said you wished it had more romance, since I always pictured it as being a more romance-heavy book. But regardless, it still sounds amazing and I can’t wait to read it. Thanks for the review!